Friday, March 18, 2016

Shoplifting Robots and Aging Draculas, or Frank Langella in Robot and Frank

Frank Langella has made a career of playing
bad guys since Dracula (1979), Skeletor in Dolph Lundgren's Masters of the Universe (1987) and even Richard Nixon in Frost/Nixon
(2004) and he is still technically playing a bad guy in Robot and Frank (2012),
where he portrays a retired jewel thief in the near future saddled with a
domestic robot by a well meaning son.Like Spike Jonze’s Her (2013) and Alex Garland’s Ex Machina (2015),
Robot and Frank explores the rapidly evolving relationship between humans and
machines.The entire genre could
be viewed as a metaphor for the Age of the Smartphone.

Frank is a man out of time and also outside
of time, as he faces an almost dystopian future of too much information in
formats he cannot access or understand.He’s the only one going to the library, fortunately there’s a comely
librarian played by Susan Sarandon working there, along with a walking
photocopier named Mr. Darcy.

The titular unnamed robot looks like Honda’s
ASIMO, speaks in a humorless monotone reminiscent of Hal 9000 and moves with the
reflexive fluidity of a guy in a robot suit.This is no prissy C3PO protocol droid; whatever personality
the robot develops is given to, or reflected by Frank.

And that’s where the movie takes an
interesting turn; as Frank is an ex-jewel thief and proceeds to teach his robot how to shoplift, pick locks and case joints.The robot has no moral center, he understands laws but chooses not to
follow them.His motivation is to
build a relationship with Frank through shared projects and sees it as a form
of therapy.It doesn’t interfere
with Asimov’s laws of robotics; he’s not harming or causing physical harm to
humans and the actions are not harmful to his own existence so from the robot’s
perspective, he’s in the clear.

It’s a classic “one last heist” movie but the
goal is not to retire, Frank’s already retired.Instead, he takes up his old profession to stay young and
active, and maintain his identity while his memory slips and his body succumbs
to old age and infirmity.Frank Langella
is excellent as he reminisces of his old life to his new companion, and it is
tragic for the viewers as they witness his memory fade in and out.There’s a poignant and bittersweet twist
at the end that only serves to reinforce our need as a society to take better
care of our seniors.

It should be noted that the word “robot”
comes from roboti, a Slavonic word meaning “slave”.Frank has a conversation with his robot where the robot
questions his existence and quotes Voltaire, but does not claim sentience.Robots in this world are treated
like appliances or cars, when in fact they are more like a talking companion animal,
another species that does not share similar rights as their human masters.It’s a subject tabled for future
discussion, but let’s not let it sneak up on us like Napster and digital rights
in the 90’s.

my first novel? thanks for asking:) I wrote a 4 book supernatural
martial arts series concerning the ongoing feud between a group of kung-fu
killer witches in san francsico’s chinatown.